Postcard from Berlin 6:
Two Very Different Artist Suppliers and a Tasty Meal:
Yesterday I went looking for materials. I visited Kunst Stoffe, a warehouse offering recycled material, workshops for hire (wood and textiles) and operating community based events.
http://www.kunst-stoffe-berlin.de/
The materials warehouse is open on Fridays only, and houses a huge stock of fabric, wood, paint, paper, and other odds and ends. Kunst Stoffe is easily reached from the Pankow S-Bahn stop.
I heard about Kunst Stoffe through a talk at the Berliner Kulturafel, given by artist Corina Vosse who runs the Warehouse.
http://www.berliner-kulturtafel.de/
The Kulturafel talks are delivered by artists and are mainly aimed at the community of Lichtenberg, home to the Stadthaus Museum where the talks are held (the location also of my residency).
The events include a very tasty and cheap meal prepared in the Museums 'social kitchen', and are arranged by photographer Michael Harms. During the evening we had an interesting conversation about Germany's policy of '1 euro' jobs (i.e. the rate of pay):
These are a government initiative for people who have been unmeployed for over a year: they are intended to be supplementary community work and not to take the place of proper paid employment. In practice though, many jobs that artists might take (i.e. community workshops, museum invigilation etc) are actually now filled with these 1 euro posts impacting upon common sources of artists income…
You can see Michael Harms photographic work at
Next I went to Boesners
http://web-01.boesner.dus.de.serverscope.net/
a large traditional art material suppliers on Marienburger Str 16, selling everything from large stretchers, to frames, clay, rock, paint, paper etc. The nearest S-Bahn stops (either Prenzlauer or Greifswalder on the ring) are a bit of a hike away so either take a trolley for all your goodies or a tram stop might get you nearer.
